January 3, 2010
Betrayal Series

THE PIT

‘Even my best friend, the one I always told everything—he ate meals at my house all the time!— has bitten my hand.’ Psalm 41:9 (Message)

‘This isn’t the neighborhood bully mocking me—I could take that. This isn’t a foreign devil spitting invective—I could tune that out. It’s you! We grew up together! You! My best friend! Those long hours of leisure as we walked arm in arm, God a third party to our conversation.’ Psalm 55:12-14 (Message)

‘Don’t trust your neighbor, don’t confide in your friend. Watch your words, even with your spouse. Neighborhoods and families are falling to pieces. The closer they are—sons, daughters, in-laws—The worse they can be. Your own family is the enemy.’ Micah 7:5-6 (Message)

‘Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And
the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.’ Genesis 37:1-3

I. BETRAYAL STRIKES AT CRUCIAL TIMES…
‘Joseph, being seventeen years old…’

V.2; Now This Is The History Of Jacob…’
V.2; ‘..And the lad was with the sons of Bilnah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives…’
V.2; ‘.. and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father’
*‘bad’- KJV: ‘evil’… *Literally ‘Good for Nothing’
v.3; ‘Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.’

II. BETRAYAL COMES FROM THOSE CLOSEST TO US…
‘But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him…’. V.4

‘And his brothers envied him’ v.11

‘But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. Here comes that dreamer, they said to each other.’ Genesis 37:18-19 (NIV)

III. BETRAYAL IS FUELED BY JEALOUSY AND ENVY…

‘Saul has killed his thousands, David his tens of thousands. Saul has killed his thousands, David his tens of thousands…’

‘So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty: there was no water in it.’ Genesis 37:23-24 (NKJV)

‘So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty: there was no water in it.’ Genesis 37:23-24 (NKJV)

IV. BETRAYAL LEADS EITHER TO A BREAKDOWN… OR A BREAKTHROUGH…

‘He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand’… Psalm 40:2 (NIV)

GOD IS PREPARING YOU FOR WHAT HE HAS PREPARED YOU FOR!!